7ENT1078 General Transition Masters in Engineering -mechanical workshop

The aim of the feasibility study is to ensure that the student and supervisor understand and agree to the aims and objectives of the project. It should be no more than 15 pages in length, excluding attached appendices. The objective of the study is to establish whether the project is technically and financially feasible and practically viable. It is also important to demonstrate commercial awareness when possible within the context of the project. It should include details of the action plan showing how the project work is to be undertaken together with planned time scales and any difficulties foreseen in obtaining components or specific items of hardware or software. It is very important that your feasibility study is concise, as vagueness will hinder your progress at the start of the project period. 

Planning your project

A successful project outcome is usually related to an appropriate planning and definition of expected outcomes. Students may consider the following planning headings when developing their project plan:

• Determine aims and objectives.
• Identify and list the activities that need to be carried out.
• Prioritise key activities.
• Estimate the time needed to complete each activity.
• Allow for time in case things go wrong.
• Check the resources available and draw up the schedule taking into account holidays, time to obtain materials, equipment and other work (use the Gantt chart you prepared for the Project Plan submission and include project milestones).
• Re-plan as necessary.
• It is important that you identify any components or items of software which are difficult to obtain, or those with long delivery times, as soon as possible. All components and software (critical path items) must be ideally ordered before the Feasibility Report is submitted. Students should let the technical staff know if they will be requiring help from them, for example in the School’s mechanical workshop.